The France-based international logistics company, Gefco, has signed a deal with Air China to block book belly capacity on inbound and outbound flights with the carrier.

Aircargo News said the deal covers Air China’s Shanghai-Frankfurt and Shanghai-Paris routes, the latter of which will be Gefco’s Western European processing hub.

China is investing heavily in its airport infrastructure. According to government data cited by the consultancy China Intelligence Online in a recent report, China will spend about US$20bn on new airport infrastructure over the five years up to 2013. As a result of the expansion, China will have 186 domestic cargo airports, including three large-scale comprehensive hub airports and seven large hub airports.